Today marks the 30th anniversary of Expo 86, the world fair that was held in Vancouver from May 2 to October 13, 1986. Themed "Transportation and Communication: World in Motion - World in Touch", the fair hosted 54 countries and saw over 22 million visitors. Leading up to the fair, David Podmore, Concert Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, helped develop a comprehensive master plan for the Expo lands.
At the time Podmore was working as a senior manager with the City of Edmonton when he got a phone call inviting him back to his hometown to work on Expo. Podmore flew to Vancouver for the weekend to learn about the project and immediately took the job. Podmore worked to help assemble 224 acres of land for the fair that stretched from the north shores of False Creek all the way to Southeast False Creek, which at the time was an industrial stretch of railyards, machine shops and shipyards. The master plan that he helped to lay the foundation for not only Expo 86, but also the successful long-term development of False Creek that has been realized in the years since. Though the process of working on the Expo lands Podmore met Jack Poole; the two would later go on to form Concert as co-founders in 1989.
In 2012, Concert acquired a portion of the Expo lands adjacent to Science World through an acquisition from Translink. In 1986 this portion of the fairgrounds was home to the event’s Folklife Festival, two country pavilions and a “Skyride Station”. Today, the six-acre site is buzzing with construction activity to realize the vision for a residential master-planned community known as The Creek.